News of the Word says goodbye

News of the World tabloid scandal looks as if it was taken from its main pages, with titles in capital letters and five columns. It could have been one of its “juicy” stories that its nearly three million readers, hunger for morbid news, used to flip though. Corruption, phone hacking, politics cornered by the press, “dangerous liaisons”... what a great story. But it couldn’t be. This time, News of the World has been making headlines in other newspapers and, such is the scandal that, after 168 year in the market, the tabloid has been closed.

The crisis in the tycoon Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid started in 2005, when it was published an article about a knee injury of Prince William. After suspecting that the royal family was victim of phone hacking, a police investigation was carried out and it was revealed not only phone hacking, as well bribing police officers for information. Two years later, the royal family correspondent of the newspaper and a detective who collaborated to get information illegally, were imprisoned. The editor of News of the World, Andy Coulson, assumed his resignation.

Keep your enemies close

Not much time later, Coulson was hired as press secretary of the Conservative Party led by James Cameron. Surprise? Not at all, is better to keep your enemies close. That’s why James Cameron and Gordon Brown didn't miss Rebekah Brooks’ weeding –the former editor of News of the World and The Sun- the same year in which she became director of News International, the British division of the media empire News Corporation which operates under the direction of its founder, Rupert Murdoch.

Once in the power, Cameron was photographed with his wife, going to a Christmas intimate dinner at Rebekah Brooks’ home. If the recent scandal wasn’t come out, for sure the British Prime Minister would attend the traditional summer party organized by News International. Signs of friendship were obvious, as also is evident the interests between politic power (Cameron) and the press (Brooks). In fact, Murdoch’s tabloids in the UK –the now-shuttered

News of the World and The Sun- not only provide juicy gossip and rumours, also act as genuine political campaigns for the candidate that best meets the interests of the media empire. A clear example of this was the campaign launched by The Sun against the Labour’s Neil Kinnock in 1992, loosing against all the odds in favour to the conservatives.

The beginning of the end of News of the World

After the imprisonments and resignations in 2005, calm seemed to have returned. But two years later, the newspaper The Guardian return to the fray and revealed which politicians and celebrities were victims of illegal phone hacking when Coulson was editor of News of the World. These disclosures didn’t shock the British, after all these people are public figures and it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between their public and private sphere.

The British Parliament was less permissive than the public and in September last year, police was pressured to initiate an investigation on phone hacking by News of the World. Prime minister’s secretary press Coulson couldn’t cope with the pressures and he had no choice but resign. Besides, a high-ranking position in the newspaper was fired in an attempt of clean up the image of the Murdoch’s empire British tabloid.

However, the bomb that blew up News of the Wold into a thousand pieces came this month when The Guardian revealed that Milly Dowler, a 13 years-old girl who was kidnapped in 2002 and killed on the same dates the tabloid spied the voicemail from her mobile phone. The paper not only spied the voicemail illegally, but also erased some of the messages to ensure new entries which, on the one hand, gave false hope to the family of Milly who was killed by that time and, on the other hand, involved the destruction of evidences that could have been vital to the police.

The publication of this information would mean the beginning of the end of News of the World. Its readership wouldn’t forgive the lack of scruples showed in the newspaper so it lost credibility and advertising, the foundations of journalism and journalistic enterprise, respectively. There was a drop in the value of News Corporation shares and a withdrawal of 33 important advertisers from the newspaper. The ship was sinking. On top of that, the takeover bid for full control of British Sky Broadcasting by News Corporation (it currently holds a 39% stake) was in danger due to the scandal broke. What to do?

Well, to shutter the tabloid has been the fastest solution. And emotional front page –“Thanks and goodbye”- and a print-run of nearly 5 million copies which revenues –of course- have gone for charity, would complete the move.

The “Three Musketeers” of the empire News Corporation –Murdoch himself, his son and future successor James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks- have given evidence in the phone hacking investigation. In their statement, their statements, their strategy is to deny any knowledge of what happened in the newspaper until proven guilty. Apart from Rebekah Brooks’ resignation as a News International director and the withdrawal of the takeover bid to control BSkyB, it seems that the earthquake that shook Murdoch’s News of the World is not going to collapse his media empire. Not to be surprised, “citizen” Murdoch is the media tycoon most powerful in the world.

South Sudan: new country, same challenges

If a country has huge oil reserves, fertile land and a privilege geopolitical position, I’d think this is a rich country, with a healthy economy due to the exploitation of its natural resources. However, isn’t surprising to see how many countries with a great economic potential are victims of men’s greed, intolerance and selfishness. This is the case of Sudan.

For 50 years Sudan fought against the British and Egyptian colonial power and since its Independence in 1956 this country has suffered two long civil wars where more than 2 million people died in a conflict motivated not only by economic reasons, but also by ethnic and religious problems.

On July 9, Sudan made headlines again. This time not for its conflicts or people’s misery, the news was the independence of the southern region and the subsequent creation of a new state: South Sudan.

Secession has drawn a new map and the country has spited into two. To the north, there is a smaller Sudan with capital in Khartoum and a population dominated by Arabs and Muslims. In the south, the new country with its capital in Juba is the home of a majority of black African.

Decades of struggle and Islamic repression

The independence of Southern Sudan has been the result of a long and difficult road that led to a peace process in 2005, which put an end to the longest and bloodiest African civil war.

That war erupted in 1983, the same year in which the president at that time, Numeiri, introduced the Sharia law in order to impose the Islamic doctrine. Popular discontent was evident, as many ethnic and religious groups live in Sudan: Muslim sunnis make up 70% of the population, African animists with 25% and Christians, 5%. To this dissatisfaction, must

be added the inequalities created during colonialism, when investments were injected into the northern forgetting the south, which led a legacy of inequalities that still remain.

After decades of struggle between the ‘rebels’ non-Muslim and the Muslim power –and under diplomatic pressure from the US, Europe, Africa and China– the government gave its approval to the referendum held on January in which 99% of the population voted for the independence of southern Sudan. The war had been too long and devastating: more than a million dead people, a 38 billion dollars foreign debt for weapons and a parallel conflict in Darfur (still in progress) on racial grounds.

The conflict in Darfur is particularly bloody. Rape is used as a war weapon, there are many cases of tortures, an increasing number of 400,000 dead victims and thousands of refugees have tried to settle in the neighbouring Chad. This brutality has been reported by the UN and, as a consequence, the president of Sudan, Al Bashir, has been accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

After independence, the horror continues

Despite the important step for its self-management, the independence of southern Sudan hasn’t solved by far all the problems. First, there is still no agreement on oil (located in the south but piped out through the north), neither on the division of the borders in “hot spots” as, for example, the oil-rich border region of Abyei, an area annexed by the north in May, although most of its habitants are allied with the south.

According to Time magazine, the result of secession has led to the creation of two weak sates and more conflict. After the independence, the government of Khartoum (northern Sudan) is conducting a terror campaign to force rebels and non-Muslim civilians fleeing the country to the south. These pockets of people “unwanted” in areas like the Nuba Mountains and South Kordofan (also rich in oil) are the target of indiscriminate aerial attacks that could be defined as crimes against humanity.

In South Sudan things aren’t better. The struggle for the exploitation of oil resources is manifested not only between the north and the south, but also between armed militias and the Dinkas, who makes up the largest ethnic group in the area. The militias are living in areas with oil and claim that are unfairly dominated by the Dinkas.

This clash of interests is compounded with corruption, concentration of power in the central government dominated by the SPLM party and huge control of the economy by its armed wing, the SPLA. The lack of resources translates into 85% of illiterate population and 90% living with less than a dollar per day.

As it can be seen, there are so many problems in Sudan that it’s not difficult to loose hope. However, it must be admitted that independence has created a symbol, something to benefit after years of struggle, repression and deaths that, unfortunately, are still far from just being memories.